A Canadian boy Mama trying to stumble my way through parenthood and life with a sense of humour.

Menu

Widgets

Search

About Me

I'm a sassy long winded Canadian girl, just fumbling my way through life. I love my job, my family, my friends and my TV. I enjoy reading, writing and hanging with my friends and family. I'm a Mom, which scares the crap out of me, but at the same time this experience is making me stronger yet softer and more patient.
This is my place to vent, share my thoughts and hear others so feel free to comment away!

Diary of a Working Mom: What’s your excuse?

Nothing irritates me more than seeing some moms taking pictures of themselves back in their bikinis or skinny jeans looking fit and great with the caption “What’s your excuse?” And let me be clear here, I am not jealous or “hating on” them for looking great I am happy for them, truly. I also think that they should be taking tons of pictures of the fabulous body they worked for and they should be sharing it! The pictures are not my issue. I also don’t think there is malious behind the use of the statement “What’s your excuse?” either. I understand the intention for motivation; that most of these Moms are just trying to encourage others to get up and get their lives back just like they did. But here’s the thing…not everyone’s life is the same and that phase implies that if I am not back in my bikini by x months/years after my baby is born I am lazy or full of excuses.

Maybe I just haven’t gotten my shit together yet. Maybe every time I think I am getting my shit together another wrench is thrown into my plan. Maybe after I get up at 6am work all day then cook, clean, take care of and spend time with my toddler its 9:00pm and I don’t want to lace up and run, or head to the gym to work out or go to the pool for a swim. Maybe all I can manage to do after only 5 hours of sleep the night before is change the channel on my TV. You don’t know my life, so why use such a judgmental phrase to try and motivate me?

I am sure not judging you and your choice to make fitness a priority, because I understand we have different lives.

My Friend and her little dude getting her workout on

I know someone who hits the gym regularly with her little guy. I see her posts with “#SummerBodiesAreMadeInWinter” (a positive motivation statement) and I think she is so lucky her little guy will sleep/stay calm while she runs/worksout. And I am glad she is taking advantage of that time to take care of herself and it inspires me. And she knows how lucky she is. Henry wouldn’t sleep or stay calm like that so I could do it. I also know damn well if her little guy wasn’t comfy she wouldn’t’ be doing it. Different lives. No judgment, just motivation and pride which is how it should be. When I see her pictures and her tags/motivation phrases it does make me want to do something, and then I realize it’s 10:15pm and I have to go to bed in 15 minutes. 🙂

Parenting is about sacrifice. And my sacrifice for right now is I won’t be in a bikini by summer. But please don’t try and make me feel bad about it, because I am happy to make that sacrifce. I may not love my body right now, but I am happy and I am still figuring it out and I haven’t given up. It takes some people a little longer to get back to themselves. And I really don’t need you to tell me I won’t be happy until I am fit or that I am full of excuses…that’s judging and it’s simply not true. How can I not look at Henry’s face, hear him laugh and watch him get excited and not be filled with joy. It’s just not possible. My situation is that my son is very…interactive. He wants to be with me, all the time. And I am ok with that. My skinny jeans and bikini can wait, he can’t. If you want to call that an “excuse” that’s your issue, not mine.

5 thoughts on “Diary of a Working Mom: What’s your excuse?”

Yes, so true. Everybody’s situation is different. That is so so true. Every person, their priorities, their situation, their challenges, their strengths. All different. I was one of those people that did exercise a lot after my daughter was born, but I would never try and put that on someone else. People would ask me how I did it, and I would try and emphasize that that was all I did. I took care of my baby and I ran. I didn’t cook, I didn’t clean, I didn’t shower… Ha! It was also one thing that helped me deal with PPD. But just because it was my priority doesn’t mean it should be someone else’s. Anyway, you do what you gotta do for yourself and your situation. Sounds like you know what’s right for you. (Sorry for the obnoxiously long comment.)

Amen to this post! Love it. My son is going to be a year in June. I realized the “I just had a baby” excuse isn’t going to cut it anymore and that is perfectly fine. Up to this point I have had a hell off a time experiencing life as a new mommy. NOW I will have the chance to work on myself so I am taking it. We all will get to it in due time. I won’t be bikini ready this year but at least I am taking my healthy seriously again and making it an effort 🙂